Joe Pernice

Long a proprietor of gorgeous pop songs, the Pernice Brothers frontman turns his attention to fiction with It Feels So Good When I Stop. The novel follows Pernice’s first foray into fiction, the novella-long meditation on The Smiths’ Meat is Murder that was published for the 33 1/3 series in 2003. Music once again plays a central role this time around, as he peppers the story with pop music spanning four decades, much of it used to set a scene or develop perspective on a character. Sammy Johns, Tom T. Hall and even “Chim Cheree” are all put into play, while Lou Barlow himself makes a cameo appearance (albeit a fictional one). Pernice reads from the novel for us, and plays songs from its companion soundtrack of covers.

Also joining us for our session is Pernice’s tourmate, the British singer-songwriter John Cunningham. While he’s been largely silent in recorded form since 2002’s Happy-Go-Unlucky, Cunningham has nevertheless managed to maintain a cultish following, among whom might be said to be Joe Pernice, who calls Cunningham’s 1999 release Homeless House his favorite album of the 90’s. The duo teams up for a version of Cunningham’s “Imitation Time” before whipping up an on-the-spot take on James Taylor’s “Fire & Rain.”